CULTURE HERITAGE TOURISM

Cultural heritage tourism is a vital part of Europe’s economy with 8.4 million people employed in this sector and 4 out of 10 tourists choosing their destination based on its cultural and heritage offering. However, Europe’s cultural heritage is under threat. The decay and abandonment of some European cultural heritage gems and the over/insensitive tourism of others are two very pressing areas for concern.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology and innovation have a leading role to play in Europe to build a strong, sustainable cultural heritage tourism sector for and of the future. Thus, INSITES aims to explore the dual purpose of technology to digitally preserve and safeguard Europe’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage gems and future proof the sector by making it more attractive to young people (digital natives) who are the future consumers/custodians of Europe’s cultural heritage.

OBJECTIVE

Cultural heritage tourism is defined as “travel to experience the places, artefacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present, including cultural historic and natural resources” such as urban and rural landscapes, museums, theatres, archaeological sites, historical monuments and cultural interpretation centres. INSITES aims to upskill those who work and manage these businesses (hereby called cultural heritage custodians) and also the VET providers and business mentors who support them in with digital skills and immersive tourism skills.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

The first tangible results of the project will be the intellectual outputs which will be used by VET educators/ mentors:

•  IO1 The Future – Immersive Cultural Heritage Experiences OERs, a multilingual cultural heritage tourism training pack which upskills learners in the powerful potential of digital technology to rejuvenate, preserve and grow cultural heritage tourism in Europe.
• IO2 Active Peer Learning Guide  which captures inspirational case studies & best practice examples of cultural and heritage tourism businesses across Europe who have improved their digital skills and embraced technology in innovative ways to rejuvenate, preserve and grow their cultural heritage tourism business.
• IO3 Digital Cultural Heritage MOOC. This multilingual MOOC offers a one-stop digital training point where cultural heritage custodians can “drop-in” & access up-to-date info, guidance & training from European digital cultural heritage experts.
• IO4 Digital Cultural Heritage Technology Toolkit which identifies, rigorously tests and guides the use of 20+ low/no-cost digital tools with the powerful potential to rejuvenate, preserve and grow cultural heritage tourism.